News from the Library of Congress

February 26, 1996

The United States Copyright Office, together with the
Interactive Multimedia Association, will hold a conference on
technology-based solutions for managing rights to digital
information on Thursday, March 7, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the
Sheraton Crystal City, 1800 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, Va.
Previous registration is required. More than 100 representatives
from clearinghouses, licensing agents, rights societies and
collectives, on-line providers, developers, library groups,
associations, and government agencies are expected to attend.

Register of Copyrights Marybeth Peters said, "It is essential
for owners of all types of copyrightable works to focus on the
development of mutually compatible and centralized mechanisms for
efficient and cost-effective licensing of their products.
Otherwise, the basic goals of copyright protection, namely adequate
protection for copyright owners balanced with the legitimate needs
of users, will not be achieved by the emerging digital networks."

The goal of the conference is to bring together
representatives from government and private industry to discuss
mutual interests and requirements for distributing digitized
intellectual property while protecting the rights of creators.
This is especially important because currently most secure
distribution systems are proprietary and not compatible. The U.S.
Copyright Office will present a status report on the development of
its digital registration and deposit system, CORDS (Copyright
Office Electronic Registration and Deposit System).

In addition to the Copyright Office, organizations making
presentations at the conference will include the Association of
American Publishers, the Copyright Clearance Center, the
Corporation for National Research Initiatives, the Electronic
Rights Management Group (IIA), IBM, the Information Infrastructure
Standards Panel/ANSI, the Interactive Multimedia Association, and
the World Wide Web Consortium, among others.

The U.S. Copyright Office has been a part of the Library of
Congress since 1870. In addition to administering the copyright
law, the office creates and maintains the public record of
copyright registration, provides technical assistance and policy
advice on copyright issues to Congress and executive branch
agencies, offers information to the general public, promotes
improved copyright protection for U.S. creative works abroad, and
obtains deposits for the collections of the Library of Congress.